Ryan Gravenberch has been one of Arne Slot‘s best players over the last 18 months, but the 23-year-old still has plenty of untapped potential, believes Dutch football expert Joe Baker.
There are several well-documented problems that Liverpool need to resolve right now, but Gravenberch is not one of them.
Converted last season into a defensive midfielder by Slot, he was named Premier League Young Player of the Year for the 2024/25 season.
It was the Dutchman’s coming-of-age moment. The development from precocious talent at Ajax, to misunderstood option at Bayern Munich, to one of Europe’s best young deep-lying midfielders at Liverpool.
However, the full-potential of Gravenberch is at risk of not being realised. Not due to him personally but those around – or not around – him.
In 2023, Liverpool pushed hard to sign Moises Caicedo before ending up with Wataru Endo, who Slot clearly does not rate enough to start.
Over two years later, the need for a top-level defensive midfielder remains. Not to replace Gravenberch but to support him and, crucially, enable the 23-year-old to take his game to the next level.
A player too good to be pigeon-holed
It’s true that Gravenberch could go on to become a world-class defensive midfielder.
Yet, due to the quality and intelligence that has enabled him to take the role, it has perhaps been forgotten that it is still not his most natural position.
What made him one of the most exciting talents at Ajax in years and convinced first Bayern and then Jurgen Klopp to sign him was Gravenberch’s ability as an athletic, all-action, box-to-box midfielder who could do almost everything from the middle of the park.
Yes, a player with superb positional sense and physical presence who could support defensively, but a creative force who could unlock defences with his passing and composure, bursting into the penalty area with well-timed runs.
As an example, watch his goal for Ajax in the KNVB Cup final in 2021.
Before last season, Gravenberch had appeared as a defensive midfielder a mere 19 times from 172 senior appearances at three clubs.
The majority of these were with Ajax, almost exclusively against teams in the bottom half of the table when they could afford to have a more attacking setup.
At Anfield, he is still learning on the job in what is currently a pretty chaotic workplace.
To restrict him to one area of the pitch – even if it is one in which he is doing well – is to arguably suffocate the qualities that could make him one of the best all-round midfielders in the world.
Lessen the load
The main challengers to Liverpool’s Premier League crown all have experienced players in the defensive midfield position.
Under Pep Guardiola, Man City never look quite right without Rodri. Caicedo is one of the first names on the teamsheet at Chelsea and, last summer, the signing of Martin Zubimendi was seen as one of the key final pieces of the Arsenal jigsaw – not just to protect the back four but to give Declan Rice more freedom in the final third.
Pretty much every team except Liverpool, in the top half of the table last season, had a defensive midfield specialist in their ranks playing regularly.
Right now Gravenberch is being asked to do too much; to protect the back four, cover the gaps at full-back, launch attacks, sometimes support attacks, dictate the tempo, pressure opposition midfielders and often fill in at centre-half.
He has to be both the team’s water-carrier and one of its key creative designers. It’s a credit to him that he has been able to cope at all.
Signing another top-level player to play alongside Gravenberch, who is comfortable sitting deep and breaking up attacks, can unleash him further forwards.
And that player doesn’t necessarily need to be someone in the Caicedo or Carlos Baleba mould.
A look at the Netherlands national team offers an interesting example, with Gravenberch forming an effective partnership alongside Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong.
The latter pushes back against our stereotypes about what a deep-lying midfielder should be.
De Jong’s game combines accurate passing, neat touches and effortless dribbles with being able to put his foot in, intercept passes and block passing channels. This is topped off by his boundless energy.
Working together, they dovetail attacking and defensive responsibilities. It will likely be the Oranje’s starting midfield partnership in next summer’s World Cup, further balanced by the more attacking Tijjani Reijnders.
It bodes well for fans if Liverpool are interested in signing Nottingham Forest‘s Elliott Anderson, whose profile fits this particular bill.
A need for midfield balance
This would not only free up Gravenberch but offer the extra defensive cover that an extremely open Liverpool currently need, especially with the current weaknesses at the centre of defence and the number of attacking players Slot is often fielding.
Despite his versatility, Dominik Szoboszlai is at his best as an attacking midfielder or a player expected to impact the game more in the final third.
The exact same can be said for both Curtis Jones and Alexis Mac Allister, both very talented players who can do a job centrally but whose games have never been about anchoring and protecting a midfield.
Fans know all three will run their socks off for the team and, against weaker sides, playing one of them alongside Gravenberch works well. However, against more attacking sides this season – wins against Real Madrid and Arsenal notwithstanding – it has generally left Liverpool too exposed.
With Endo only starting games in the Carabao Cup, you have to assume his chances of coming in more permanently are limited. Meanwhile, injuries have significantly curtailed the progress and chances for Stefan Bajcetic.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but did Liverpool make a mistake selling academy graduate Tyler Morton, who is currently performing well and starting nearly every game in defensive midfield for Lyon?
Liverpool could do with a January signing
Fans may read this and scoff at the suggestion of signing another midfielder this January. Indeed, a centre-half is probably the greater priority.
Nonetheless, when people talk about the current squad being too top-heavy, it isn’t just about the number of attackers and defenders but the imbalance in midfield too.
There is a glaring lack of players able to do the dirtier work in midfield and plug the holes that have been all too apparent this season.
This would help tighten the team up defensively, provide a better platform for the myriad of attacking players to wreak havoc and, significantly, provide one of Liverpool’s most talented players with the environment to prove why he can become one of the world’s best all-round central midfielders.
Gravenberch is too good to be pigeon-holed. It is time to find a way to truly unleash his potential.